Work on a new £11m health centre set to provide services to thousands of patients on the outskirts of Norwich is due to begin this month.

Building work on the Rackheath Health Hub is set to start imminently, as partners NHS Property Services, NHS Norfolk & Waveney and developers Darwin Group confirmed that works are set to take place from early August 2024 until Spring 2025.

The Hub will house primary medical and community services, ensuring the growing community has the right healthcare facilities in place.

The building will be made up of 45 modules making up around 16,000 feet of internal floor space, transforming how local health and care services are delivered.

The new scheme will provide essential new infrastructure to the local area, where it is expected that additional housing will be delivered over the coming months and years.

Barry Clark, Capital Manager for National Major Projects at NHSPS said: “The new centre will offer both existing and future residents in Rackheath a state-of-the-art facility, that to its core, is sustainable and modern. Through our partnership with customers, we will be able to help health professionals deliver the care that patients deserve in space that is welcoming, sustainable and fit for purpose.”

The new facility will include modernised consultation and examination rooms, community areas and district nurse facilities, as well as back office and shared space for healthcare colleagues in the centre, ultimately providing them with the optimum environment to deliver excellent patient care.

Paul Higham, Associate Director Estates from NHS Norfolk and Waveney, said “We are pleased to be working together with local partners to continue to progress the planned development for a new healthcare facility in the Rackheath area that will further improve residents’ access to health and care services now, and for the future. The planned Hub at Rackheath will help to transform how health and care services are delivered, bringing services closer to where people live, enabling more joined-up care, and supporting residents to access information and wider services that will help them to live healthy and well.”

Healthcare construction experts Darwin Group were appointed by NHSPS and NHS Norfolk & Waveney to deliver the build, their Deputy CEO Jim Pierce explained: “We are proud to work with all our partners on this new healthcare facility and I am delighted to see work commence this month.

“This has been in the planning for some time now, and, when open, it will offer patients a state-of-the-art medical facility with excellent working conditions for all staff. We also understand how important this medical facility will be for the growing population of Rackheath and the wider community, it will help with future demand and medical care in the area for many years to come.”